Written Answers Monday 28 February 2011

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which of the recommendations in The Road Ahead for Scotland: Final Report of the Inquiry into Future Support for Agriculture in Scotland it (a) supports and (b) does not support and what the reason is for its position in each case.

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish a formal response to The Road Ahead for Scotland: Final Report of the Inquiry into Future Support for Agriculture in Scotland .

Richard Lochhead: The report itself calls for more work to be carried out to develop some of the recommendations further. We are taking this work forward with stakeholders before taking up a detailed position on the report. We have, however, identified some key principles which the Scottish Government supports including;

  Improving sustainability of Scottish agriculture;

  Fairer allocation of both Pillar I and Pillar II budgets;

  Continuation of Pillar I Direct Payments;

  Reform of Direct Payments (historical basis no longer justified);

  Distribution of future payments (pure area-based system not suitable, need to consider alternatives such as Top-Up Fund);

  Measures to tackle land abandonment (limited coupled payments);

  Stronger links between payments and farming activity;

  Addressing global challenges (climate change, biodiversity and food security);

  Measures to support new entrants and other excluded sectors; and

  Simplifying the Common Agricultural Policy to reduce the administrative burden.

  I have undertaken to write to the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee explaining those principles in more detail.

Agriculture

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, following publication of The Road Ahead for Scotland: Final Report of the Inquiry into Future Support for Agriculture in Scotland , what the status is of the group that prepared it; whether the Scottish Government retains the services of the group’s members, and, if so, on what basis.

Richard Lochhead: The terms and conditions of Mr Pack’s appointment as chairman of the inquiry included appropriate follow-up work subsequent to the inquiry's report. The period of Mr Pack’s contract has been extended to enable him to continue carrying out follow-up work, including advising on the ongoing work between Scottish Government and stakeholders in developing the inquiry’s recommendations further and carrying out engagements aimed at explaining the inquiry's findings.

Diabetes

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what mechanisms are in place to monitor the success of the actions set out in the Diabetes Action Plan 2010 to increase insulin pump provision.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Diabetes Group (SDG) monitors NHS boards’ progress with the Diabetes Action Plan.

  Insulin pump provision is also a standing item on the agenda for meetings of the lead clinicians of the diabetes Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs).

  The 2010 Scottish Diabetes Survey, due to be published by April 2011, will provide the latest figures on insulin pump usage on a board by board basis.

  The SDG will use the survey results to review boards’ progress against their published plans for insulin pumps, and the local diabetes MCNs will be asked for a note of their plans to address any areas in need of improvement.

Diabetes

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people with type 1 diabetes use a continuous glucose monitor.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not held centrally.

  In relation to the provision of continuous glucose monitoring, we expect diabetes services to be guided by the advice contained in SIGN Guideline 116 on the management of diabetes. The guideline is available at:

  http://www.sign.ac.uk/pdf/sign116.pdf.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is monitoring the implementation by each NHS board of the report, Getting to GRIPS with Chronic Pain in Scotland .

Nicola Sturgeon: Taking forward the recommendations in the GRIPS (Getting Relevant Information on Pain Services) report forms the basis of the work of the steering group on chronic pain, which we have set up with NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and which is chaired by our lead clinician for chronic pain.

  The lead clinician currently reports to the Scottish Government Health Directorates’ Long Term Conditions Programme Board on progress relating to the chronic pain action in our Long Term Conditions Action Plan.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what pain management services there are in each NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.

  NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) has however asked each NHS board to provide information about its pain management services for inclusion on the chronic pain community website that will be launched at the inaugural event of the Scottish Pain Research Community on 31 March 2011.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards have sent patients to pain management programmes outside Scotland and how much this cost each board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The number of people referred to pain management programmes outside Scotland, during the period 1 April 2010 to 4 February 2011, and the cost to each NHS board, are given in the following table:

  

NHS Board
Number Referred
Cost


NHS Ayrshire and Arran
3
£50,591


NHS Fife
1
£9,627


NHS Forth Valley
2
£16,472


NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
2
£16,471


NHS Grampian
8
£89,875


NHS Highland
2
£13,850


NHS Lanarkshire
1
£9,547


NHS Tayside
6
£55,146



  Source: National Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients are offered a multidisciplinary pain management programme after attending a local pain clinic, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital admissions have been attributed to weather-related falls since 1 December 2010.

Nicola Sturgeon: The routine collection of data on hospital admissions for falls is collected by ISD through the Standard Morbidity Record (SMR01) and complete data for December 2010 should be available in June 2011 and data for January and February 2011 should be available July and August 2011 respectively. Although this data is not routinely published by ISD, it will be available on request.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital admissions were attributed to adverse weather conditions in December 2010.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on the number of acute care hospital admissions is published quarterly by ISD on the Acute Hospital Care section of the ISD website at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4150.html.

  The next publication is scheduled for 29 March 2011 and will include high level statistics up to the quarter ending 31 December 2010 based on ISD(S)1 aggregate data returns. Complete data at a more detailed level, e.g. diagnosis level, for December 2010 should be available in June 2011.

  Whilst details of diagnoses on the Standard Morbidity Record (SMR01) can be used to identify medical conditions likely to be related to cold weather, the data collection cannot attribute admissions due to adverse weather per se.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for prioritising rheumatology and musculoskeletal services in the NHS.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is currently developing a national musculoskeletal programme which aims to bring about significant service redesign to improve the delivery and outcome of musculoskeletal services across Scotland. The redesign focuses on improving access to services, including rheumatology services, by establishing a centralised self referral triage system utilising the technology within NHS 24, which is the national telephone and web based advice service for NHS Scotland.

  Our intention is to enhance supported self management and timeous access to expert advice and interventions when required.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what treatment and support services are available to people with (a) progressive supranuclear palsy, (b) corticobasal degeneration; and (c) multiple system atrophy, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: Services for rare diseases such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) are provided by the clinical neuroscience units in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen. These services, which cover the whole of Scotland, are consultant-led, with nurse practitioner support and access to appropriate support such as physiotherapy.

  In addition, there are long-standing commissioning arrangements to ensure people with MSA, CBD and PSP are able to benefit from highly specialised services across the UK, or further afield, when clinically indicated.

  Voluntary organisations such as the Multiple System Atrophy Trust and the PSP Association also provide valuable support to people living with these conditions. The Neurological Alliance of Scotland, which receives some of its funding from the Scottish Government, acts as an umbrella organisation for all third sector bodies dealing with neurological conditions. We have also given a commitment to work with Rare Diseases UK on taking forward in Scotland the strategy Improving lives, Optimising Resources: A Vision for the UK Rare Disease Strategy, which it launched at the Parliament on 22 February 2011.

  In addition, the Scottish Government strongly supports the implementation of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland’s clinical standards for neurological health services. These will drive local improvement of services for all those with a neurological condition, wherever in Scotland they live.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what backlog of X-rays waiting to be carried out by hospitals has been reported to it.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information requested is not collected centrally. Current information on waits for diagnostic tests relate to the eight key diagnostic tests such as MRI and CT scans, but not for X-rays.

  Waits for X-rays will of course be included in the 18 weeks referral to treatment time target due for delivery at the end of this year.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether patients in Scotland suitable for transcatheter aortic valve implantation have been referred to centres in England to undergo the procedure.

Nicola Sturgeon: Yes. NHS boards in Scotland, through individual patient treatment requests panels, have referred patients with severe aortic stenosis to centres in England for transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been referred to centres in England to undergo a transcatheter aortic valve implantation, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not available centrally in the format requested.

  The UK Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) Registry shows that, in 2009, 12 people were referred by NHS boards to a centre in England for transcatheter aortic valve implantation TAVI.

Home Care

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints each (a) NHS board and (b) local authority has received in relation to the removal of or increase in charges for home-help services and how many people have had their services reinstated.

Nicola Sturgeon: Information on complaints made in relation to charges for home help services is not held centrally.

  Data collected on complaints about the NHS in Scotland is published annually by the Information Services Division and is available at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/4424.html.

Housing

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many houses in each parliamentary constituency have received (a) free and (b) partially subsidised insulation under the Home Insulation Scheme since it was introduced.

Alex Neil: Based on delivery as at 2 January 2011, within all Home Insulation Scheme (HIS) areas since the scheme was introduced:

  11,539 households had at least one insulation measure that was free under HIS, broken down by constituency as follows:

  

Constituency
Households


Angus
1,419


Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
397


Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
20


Central Fife
395


Clydebank and Milngavie
1


Dundee East
860


Dundee West
370


East Lothian
153


Eastwood
14


Edinburgh Central
95


Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
260


Edinburgh North and Leith
1


Edinburgh South
17


Edinburgh West
131


Falkirk East
5


Falkirk West
1


Glasgow Cathcart
394


Glasgow Govan
10


Glasgow Pollok
231


Glasgow Rutherglen
267


Gordon
4


Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber
790


Midlothian
8


Moray
1


North East Fife
456


North Tayside
330


Ochil
303


Orkney Islands
666


Perth
6


Roxburgh and Berwickshire
93


Shetland Islands
101


Stirling
1,563


Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
1


West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
152


Western Isles
2,024


Total
11,539



  3,255 households had at least 1 insulation measure that was partially subsidised under HIS, broken down by constituency as follows:

  

Constituency
Households


Angus
119


Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
41


Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
4


Central Fife
192


Cumbernauld and Kilsyth
2


Dundee East
138


Dundee West
23


East Lothian
59


Eastwood
3


Edinburgh Central
47


Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
299


Edinburgh North and Leith
2


Edinburgh Pentlands
4


Edinburgh South
4


Edinburgh West
129


Glasgow Cathcart
245


Glasgow Govan
11


Glasgow Pollok
171


Glasgow Rutherglen
216


Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber
117


Kilmarnock and Loudoun
1


Midlothian
1


North East Fife
206


North Tayside
30


Ochil
101


Orkney Islands
146


Roxburgh and Berwickshire
11


Shetland Islands
7


Stirling
570


West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
28


Western Isles
328


Total
3,255



  A household may have had both a free and a partially subsidised measure installed; if so, the household will be counted in both of the above figures.

  The majority of insulation installations provided so far by HIS are within the initial ten participating local authorities where schemes began in November 2009, and which were extended in April 2010. Phase two delivery began in September 2010 and installations within the additional nineteen local authorities participating in that phase will continue to increase in volume as these schemes progress and the pipeline of applications is converted to installations.

Housing

Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with housing organisations regarding the infrastructure loans fund announced in the budget for 2011-12.

Alex Neil: My officials have met with senior representatives from Homes for Scotland (HfS) to discuss how the scheme might be operated.

  In addition, on 2 March 2011, a stakeholder group, which includes COSLA, Heads of Planning Scotland, HfS, and the Scottish Property Federation, will be given a brief on the new Housebuilding Infrastructure Loan Fund and will be asked for their views regarding operating criteria.

  Finally, early conversations with specific housebuilders, property specialists and registered social landlords, have been held to try to assess the number and type of development projects which may seek assistance.

Housing

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether proposed housing developments by a registered social landlord must receive planning permission before grant support to assist with construction costs can be awarded.

Alex Neil: It is possible for an award of grant to be made to a registered social landlord (RSL) to assist with construction costs prior to planning permission for the approved project having been granted. In all such cases the formal offer of grant would contain an essential condition requiring full planning consent for the development to have been obtained by the RSL prior to any grant monies being released.

NHS Finance

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason there are targets to measure performance against budget for only three of its key spending priorities for health and sport outlined in the draft budget for 2011-12.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Draft Budget 2011-12, sets out the health priorities for 2011-12. The Local Delivery Plan Guidance 2011-12 sets out the HEAT targets and standards for NHSScotland at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/NHS-Scotland/17273/LDPGuidancePDF201112.

  Where HEAT targets and standards can help support delivery of the priorities set out in the draft budget, then they are underpinned directly by HEAT targets and standards. For example there are HEAT targets on reducing waiting times; healthcare associated infections; and financial breakeven.

  The following table lists the Scottish Government’s priorities for 2011-12 and the HEAT targets and standards that support these priorities.

  

Priorities Set Out in Draft Budget 2011-12
Supporting HEAT Targets and Standards


Protect frontline healthcare services; 
Supported by all HEAT targets and standards.


Implement Scotland's first National Dementia Strategy in full and take forward the work to improve post-diagnostic information and support and to improve the care in general hospital settings; 
Directly supported by HEAT Standard:Maintain the number of people with a diagnosis of dementia on the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) dementia register and other equivalent sources.


Support older people and those with long term conditions to remain independent in their own homes or in the community, by a focus across NHS boards and local authorities on supported self management, reducing unnecessary hospital admissions and speeding discharge after a crisis; 
Directly supported by HEAT target:
Reducing the need for emergency hospital care, NHS boards will achieve agreed reductions in emergency inpatient bed days rates for people aged 75 and over between 2009-10 and 2011-12 through improved partnership working between the acute, primary and community care sectors.


Support NHSScotland to eliminate waste and drive modernisation programmes; 
Directly supported by HEAT target:
NHS boards to deliver a 3% efficiency saving to reinvest in frontline services


Support NHSScotland to achieve productivity and efficiency gains without compromising quality through the implementation of the new Efficiency and Productivity plan; 



  

Priorities Set Out in Draft Budget 2011-12
Supporting HEAT Targets and Standards


Implement the Healthcare Quality Strategy; 
Directly supported by a range of "H", "A" and "T" targets and standards including: 
Deliver 18 weeks referral to treatment from 31 December 2011.Further reduce healthcare associated infections so that by March 2013 NHS boards’ staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (including MRSA) cases are 0.26 or less per 1000 acute occupied bed days; and the rate of Clostridium difficile infections in patients aged 65 and over is 0.39 cases or less per 1000 total occupied bed days.


Identify and eradicate harmful and wasteful variation; 
Directly supported by HEAT target:
Further reduce healthcare associated infections so that by March 2013 NHS boards’ staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (including MRSA) cases are 0.26 or less per 1000 acute occupied bed days; and the rate of Clostridium difficile infections in patients aged 65 and over is 0.39 cases or less per 1000 total occupied bed days.


Continue to reduce Healthcare Associated Infection; 
Directly supported by HEAT target:
Further reduce healthcare associated infections so that by March 2013 NHS boards’ staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (including MRSA) cases are 0.26 or less per 1000 acute occupied bed days;  and the rate of Clostridium difficile infections in patients aged 65 and over is 0.39 cases or less per 1000 total occupied bed days.


Continue to protect and enable the most vulnerable in our society by addressing health inequalities and, through early interventions, to support our children; 
Directly supported by HEAT target:
Achieve agreed completion rates for child healthy weight intervention programme over the three years ending March 2014.At least 60% of three and four year olds in each SIMD quintile to have fluoride varnishing twice a year by March 2014.


Deliver the 18 week Referral to Treatment standard; 
Directly supported by HEAT target:
Deliver 18 weeks referral to treatment from 31 December 2011. 


Continue to address the major public health challenges facing Scotland, including alcohol misuse, smoking, obesity, sexual health and Hepatitis C; 
Directly supported by the "H" targets.


Invest a further £25 million within NHS boards to keep our commitment to abolish prescription charges; 
 



  

Priorities set out in Draft Budget 2011-12
Supporting HEAT targets and standards


Continue to fund free personal care; 
 


Deliver the Obesity Route Map Action Plan; 
Directly supported by HEAT target:
Achieve agreed completion rates for child healthy weight intervention programme over the three years ending March 2014.


Increase levels of physical activity and participation in sport; 
 


Support people in Scotland to maintain their health through commencement of the implementation of the recently enacted tobacco control legislation and the implementation of the provisions of the Alcohol Etc (Scotland) Act; 
 


Begin the roll out of abdominal aortic aneurism screening for men aged 65; 
 


Continue to work to support measures which respond to the needs of equality communities and help to address the inequalities they experience; 
Directly supported by HEAT target:
Achieve agreed number of inequalities targeted cardiovascular health checks during 2011-12.


Commence delivery of the three-week waiting time target for alcohol misuse services; 
Directly supported by HEAT target:
By March 2013, 90% of clients will wait no longer than three weeks from referral received to appropriate drug or alcohol treatment that supports their recovery.


Reflect the importance of our person-centred approach to improving healthcare quality by gathering new information and taking related action on patient, carer and staff experience and patient reported outcomes, and through the enactment of the Patients' Rights Bill; 
Directly supported by a range of "H", "A" and "T" targets and standards including: 
No patient will wait longer than nine weeks for inpatient and day case treatment (measured on month end census).


Continue to focus on patient safety by rolling out our successful approaches across acute, mental health and primary care; 
 


Maintain our commitment to research; 
 


Begin the implementation of the 25 per cent reduction in management costs; and 
 


Continue investment in new and replacement health facilities, IT and equipment.

NHS Funding

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it transferred the budget line for cervical cancer screening to miscellaneous other services.

Nicola Sturgeon: The budget was not considered large enough to warrant a separate line in the level 3 budget analysis (see table 8.03, page 118 in the 2011-12 Draft Budget).

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the introduction of Agenda for Change, how many auxiliary nurses have outstanding grievances.

Nicola Sturgeon: All grievances are dealt with at local level by NHS boards under NHS Scotland’s Dealing With Employee Concerns Partnership Information Network policy which can be found at:

  www.staffgovernance.scot.nhs.uk/partnership/partnership-information-network.

  Data on outstanding grievances is not collected centrally.

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average annual salary of a staff nurse is and what pay grades are applicable to nursing staff in the NHS.

Nicola Sturgeon: Since the introduction of the Agenda for Change pay system, nursing staff have been categorised according to their Agenda for Change pay band and the term "staff nurse" is no longer used in NHS Scotland. Those formerly designated as "staff nurses" will be covered either by Band 5 or Band 6 of Agenda for Change. Scottish Government analysts advise that the average salary of a Band 5 nurse is currently £25,215 and the average salary of a Band 6 nurse is £31,619.

  Under Agenda for Change, there are job profiles available for nursing staff ranging from Band 2 Clinical Support Workers (£13,653 - £16,753) to Band 9 Nurse Consultant Higher Level (£77,079 - £97,478).

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what positions held by staff in the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service have an annual salary (a) of between £50,000 and £100,000, (b) of between £100,000 and £150,000 and (c) in excess of £150,000.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information on staff numbers collected by Scotland’s Information and Statistics Directorate does not allow the identification of salaries for specific positions.

  The Scottish government does publish remuneration information for chief executives which is available on the Scottish government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/about/Bodies.

  Also, NHS organisations are required to publish pay data for staff earning over £50,000 in their annual accounts. The Scottish Blood Transfusion Service is part of NHS National Services Scotland and its annual accounts can be found at

  http://www.nhsnss.org/uploads/publications/0809%20Annual%20Accounts%20Pack.pdf.

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what positions held by staff in the Scottish Ambulance Service have an annual salary (a) of between £50,000 and £100,000, (b) of between £100,000 and £150,000 and (c) in excess of £150,000.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information on staff numbers collected by Scotland’s Information and Statistics Directorate does not allow the identification of salaries for specific positions.

  The Scottish government does publish remuneration information for chief executives which is available on the Scottish government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/about/Bodies.

  Also, NHS organisations are required to publish pay data for staff earning over £50,000 in their annual accounts which for the Scottish Ambulance Service can be found at:

  http://www.scottishambulance.com/UserFiles/file/Publications/Annual-accounts-2009-2010.pdf.

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what positions held by staff in NHS24 have an annual salary (a) of between £50,000 and £100,000, (b) of between £100,000 and £150,000 and (c) in excess of £150,000.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information on staff numbers collected by Scotland’s Information and Statistics Directorate does not allow the identification of salaries for specific positions.

  The Scottish government does publish remuneration information for chief executives which is available on the Scottish government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/about/Bodies.

  Also, NHS organisations are required to publish pay data for staff earning over £50,000 in their annual accounts which for NHS24 can be found at:

  http://www.nhs24.com/content/mediaassets/doc/Annual%20Accounts%202009%20-%2010.pdf.

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what positions held by staff in NHS Health Scotland have an annual salary (a) of between £50,000 and £100,000, (b) of between £100,000 and £150,000 and (c) in excess of £150,000.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information on staff numbers collected by Scotland’s Information and Statistics Directorate does not allow the identification of salaries for specific positions.

  The Scottish government does publish remuneration information for chief executives which is available on the Scottish government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/about/Bodies.

  Also, NHS organisations are required to publish pay data for staff earning over £50,000 in their annual accounts which for NHS Health Scotland can be found at:

  http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/4896.aspx.

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what positions held by staff in NHS Education for Scotland have an annual salary (a) of between £50,000 and £100,000, (b) of between £100,000 and £150,000 and (c) in excess of £150,000.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information on staff numbers collected by Scotland’s Information and Statistics Directorate does not allow the identification of salaries for specific positions.

  The Scottish government does publish remuneration information for chief executives which is available on the Scottish government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/about/Bodies.

  Also, NHS organisations are required to publish pay data for staff earning over £50,000 in their annual accounts which for NHS Education for Scotland can be found at:

  http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/media/911972/signed_annual_accounts%202009_10.pdf

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what positions held by staff in NHS Quality Improvement Scotland have an annual salary (a) of between £50,000 and £100,000, (b) of between £100,000 and £150,000 and (c) in excess of £150,000.

Nicola Sturgeon: The information on staff numbers collected by Scotland’s Information and Statistics Directorate does not allow the identification of salaries for specific positions.

  The Scottish government does publish remuneration information for chief executives which is available on the Scottish government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/about/Bodies.

  Also, NHS organisations are required to publish pay data for staff earning over £50,000 in their annual accounts which for NHS Quality Improvement Scotland can be found at:

  http://www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/files/BM240610_AgendaItem17_Appendix1.pdf.

NHS Staff

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what positions held by NHS (a) nursing and (b) midwifery staff have an annual salary (i) of between £50,000 and £100,000, (ii) of between £100,000 and £150,000 and (iii) in excess of £150,000.

Nicola Sturgeon: Nursing and midwifery staff are paid under the Agenda for Change pay system which allocated pay bands according to which job profile their job description has been matched to. Pay band 8b equates to a pay scale from £45,254 to £55,945. Band 8c is £54,454 to £67,134, band 8d is £65,270 to £80,810 and band 9 is £77,079 to £97,478. The job profiles which match to these bands would typically be senior nursing or midwifery posts such as nurse or midwife consultant.

National Health Service

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS board has made the most progress in reducing the number of patients who did not attend for hospital appointments.

Nicola Sturgeon: Around half of NHS boards have made improvements in reducing the rate of did not attends in the last few years, in particular NHS Forth Valley and Lanarkshire.

  In the current economic climate it is more vital that NHS boards reduce waste in their budgets. It is every patient’s responsibility to keep their appointment, but we recognise that the NHS has to be flexible in helping make appointments convenient for patients.

  That is why the Scottish Government has given the NHS in Scotland a three per cent target for efficiency savings and all NHS boards are working on implementing policies to reduce missed appointments. This includes text and phone reminders, more choice over the time of an appointment and a poster campaign reminding patients of their responsibility in using NHS services. The Health Delivery Directorate Improvement and Support Team will continue to work with boards and ensure that good practice is identified and shared across Scotland.

Scottish Government Funding

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many events it provided with grant funding in 2010, broken down by (a) level of grant, (b) name of event and (c) description of event.

Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government is committed to encouraging a sense of national identity and to promoting Scotland’s relations and interests in many sectors. Both are vital if Scotland is to prosper and if we are to achieve our goal of sustainable economic growth. Supporting and promoting events at home and abroad with a Scottish theme or element is an integral part of this process.

  To collate and quantify the number and type of events with a Scottish theme or element, organised across the whole of the Scottish Government, could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Smoking

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35505 by Shona Robison on 24 August 2010, whether the Minister for Public Health and Sport will update the Parliament on current statistics from local authorities on the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme.

Shona Robison: A report compiled by the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland which provides details of local authorities’ engagement with the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme has now been published. Copies of the report will be made available through the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 52522).